Do you guys remember a couple days ago I told you about our new Egyptian student? He speaks no English nor do his parents. Well I've found a fabulous mother who is from Lebanon. Today she came to my office and she called the boy's mother. Mom was so relieved to have someone on the phone that she could converse with. I introduced Fadi (our new little boy) to Amal (his tutor) and for the first time since he's been here, he smiled!!!! When Amal was talking to Fadi's mother on the phone she asked Amal to please hug me for my help. I felt so relieved that Fadi and his family are connected to the outside of their apartment and I felt so happy.

After Amal talked with Fadi's mom, we talked about the situation the world is in now with the war. Her and her husband still own some piece of land in Lebanon and she goes back there frequently. She says it is not safe anywhere. She also said how thankful she is to be in America and how safe she feels. I asked her if she really did feel safe. She said, "yes, this country is the safest place in the world to be." She said that she was indeed very frightened after 9/11 but she did not waiver in the fact that she felt the USA was the safest place in the world to be. She said she's lived all over the world.

I have to get home...but if anyone is interested I'll post more of our conversation. We talked for an hour together about the situation of the world. I know we are just two normal people, noone important in government but we had an awesome talk.

Thanks for the nice words everyone!! I'm not sure I deserve them but thanks!! I said I'd post more on our conversation but the whole losing the keys drama took over today. I've calmed down a bit some six hours later however.

Anyway, on my conversation with Amal yesterday...my new friend from Lebanon.....I had such a good time talking with her. I felt like I had known her all my life. I had so many questions I wanted to ask her but I was afraid I might scare her off since I had just met her. I'll be seeing her again soon though and we'll have many talks. I hope I can learn much more from her. I know what she and I talk about won't make much difference in the wars that are going on, but at the very least I know it will benefit my children and the students here. My children are going to read about 9/11 in their history books as are the students here. When they ask me questions about these wars we are having with Arabic countries/groups, etc., I'll be better able to explain some things to them bc of my conversations with Amal. That makes me happy. When I talked with her, I had no reason to not believe the things she was telling me. She is just like me, only she was born in a different country than I was. She is not a politician or the media.

I am looking forward to many more talks with Amal. I hope she feels the same. I'm looking forward to helping Fadi (our new student) succeed in school and enjoy his new life in America.

I'm really not a softy, you won't catch me feeling very gushy about many things, but this I am very passionate about. I love my family, my friends, and I love every single one of these students at my school. I'll do whatever it takes to help them succeed and I feel that my relationship with Fadi and Amal can only help my friends, family, and the rest of the students here at my school to break down any barriers we have in between us. Maybe one day we can all be friends and understand each other. I hope and I wish.